One month ago, I was sitting in my kitchen, staring out the window at my backyard, which had twelve inches of snow, topped with an inch of ice. Daytime temperatures had been in the teens for weeks, with nighttime lows in the single digits, occasionally dropping below zero F. I gazed at the frozen tundra and said to myself, “this snow is never going away.” Even though I knew that was not true, I wondered exactly how long it would be before the grass was visible again.
Today, with temperatures reaching 70 F, with recent rains having washed the pavement of salt, and with 95% of the snow gone, it truly felt like spring had arrived, twelve days ahead of schedule. I went out to the garage and reversed the winter bedding procedure I’ve always followed for the Alfa Romeo: the cover came off, engine oil level was checked and verified to be OK, tire pressures were reset from 45 psi to 30 psi, and the battery trickle charger was removed.
A quick eyeball of the engine compartment, interior, and trunk showed no cause for alarm, so I inserted the ignition key, pumped the gas pedal a half dozen times, and cranked. The crank was strong, but then I remembered I had forgotten to pull out the choke knob. With choke on, it took only two more tries for the engine to bark to life. I let the car idle for a few minutes before backing it out of the garage, where I let it idle a bit more, waiting for the water temperature to reach normal. At that point, it was time to go for a spin.
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in my neighborhood, so I eased on down the road, taking my time with the shifting, keeping the revs below three grand for now. Watching the gauges, everything seemed fine. It always takes the oil temperature gauge a while longer to reach the mid-point, and once it did, I brought the tach up higher and higher, eventually getting it close to 5,000 (redline is 6,250). I put only seven miles on the car, but it felt great to be behind the wheel again, and it was just what the doctor ordered to chase the winter blues away. With an even better forecast for tomorrow and Tuesday, I will take the car out again. Can’t wait for car show season to start!
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Amen ! I’ve had my Mustang out a “few” times this winter but not much. Tomorrow and Tuesday will be different!
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Hi Nick, thanks for reading the blog and thanks for your comments! Glad to know that the Mustang is still purring along for you. Best, Richard
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Well done! Even with the relative warmth of the last few days, there still is at least a foot on the ground here and salty runoff everywhere. You guys “down south” are lucky.
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Hi Bob, thanks as always for your comments. Yes, you are still in the frozen north, but you’ll eventually thaw out! I know that you’re itching to drop the top on that Fiat and go for a ride. Best, Richard
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I’m jealous. There’s still a decent amount of snow here and I don’t feel enough rain to wash the salt and grit off the roads. Plus, my cars are stored at my parents’ about 40 miles away. Making matters worse, as I was putting the Grand Prix in its spot, a brake line burst so I’ll need to get that fixed. And the Mustang has a stubborn tire that leaks air, so there’s that to remedy.
But the last couple days were very nice so there’s hope!
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Hi Mark, thanks for your comments. Sooner or later you’ll thaw out. Good luck with the Grand Prix and the Mustang! Best, Richard
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Yes, yes, get out there and exercise your car lust…then put it back into hibernation before the cold comes back in later this week. Enjoy!
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Hi Bob, and thanks for your comments! Hope you can get that ’39 Ford back on the road. Best, Richard
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Visiting shop today. We are 98% done.
Brake system was totally replaced, NOS (drums) and repro. Have to test drive.
Overdrive unit is all in with exception of a speedometer component. When od is engaged, it goes through a geared box to make sure speedo reads correctly. We have the unit, but had to send out to recalibrate as it is for a truck (different ratio) and luckily the person who makes some od parts, but not entire ‘box’, has the ability to change internals…the gears.
Am looking forward to getting out soon to one of Abe Platt’s diner cruises. Hope to see you there!
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Bob, sounds good!
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